Results Success

Priestley students buck national trend in 2018

STUDENTS at Priestley College have bucked the national trend with an increasing pass rate and a greater number of high grades than in 2017.

Nationally the overall pass rate decreased to 97.6% whereas at Priestley the figure rose to 98.1%. In 35 subjects 100% of students passed with the A* to C rate rising from 65.2% to 69.4%.

Principal Matthew Grant said that, in part, the improved pass rate was due to Priestley continuing to offer students the chance to take AS exams at the end of their first year at Priestley.

“Obviously the results are mainly down to the hard work and dedication of both students and staff, but by allowing students to take AS exams we give them the chance to be more selective about the subjects they study in year two,” he said.

“This year at A-Level we have recorded some of our best ever results with many students achieving three or more A* or A grades. More than 100 have secured a triple Distinction Star or Distinction in Extended Diplomas, which is exceptional.”

Over 600 students collected their A-Level results at Priestley – more than everywhere else in Warrington combined.

Together they raised the A* to B pass rate at Priestley from 35.6% in 2017 to 38.2%.

Priestley’s STEM and Language students impressed as did those in other traditional subjects such as Classics, English, History and Economics.

Art and Design and Performing Arts delivered outstanding results across the board.

Among those celebrating was triple A* student Will Twist who is planning to study Medicine after a year of work experience in hospitals, surgeries and care homes.

“I have a passion for Chemistry and Biology and how they work together,” said the former Bridgewater High School pupil.

“People are always going to need doctors and I like the idea of being able to help people.”

Another Bridgewater pupil, Josh Thompson, is heading to the University of Manchester to study Architecture while Eleanor Ward is heading to Lancaster to focus on Creative Writing and Film Studies.

Also hitting the high notes was Yi Chen Hock who combined A-Levels in Music, Electronics, Further Maths and Physics and the result was three A*s and one A.

In a sign that Priestley students met theirs – and their prospective universities’ expectations – only 44 out of more than 600 students had to go through Clearing and that figure was expected to fall further by the end of the day.

Matthew Grant said: “I congratulate all of our students and staff who have worked hard to deliver such a fantastic set of results in what has clearly been a most challenging year of change nationally.”

Click here to view the national 16 to 18 performance tables. You can compare Priestley to other colleges here

Outstanding achievements for class of 2018

• Best ever A* and A grade performance at Priestley
• 100% pass rate in 35 subjects
• 68% grades in vocational studies were Distinction or Distinction*
• 69% of results were high grades
• Fantastic high grade performance in subjects as varied as Fine Art and Computing to English Language and PE
• Best ever AS results for our Year One cohort

GCSE English and Maths

Priestley pass rate in GCSE Maths was 11% above the national average in 2018.

Priestley pass rate in GCSE English was 22% above the national average in 2018.

Value added

Value added measures track the progress students make based on their GCSE results and Priestley students make very positive progress. The national value added measures show that students make signiﬁcantly above average progress in many A-Levels, AS and on all BTEC/OCR programmes. The ALPs value added measures of student progress show that in many subjects and courses Priestley is in the top 10% of all providers.